Zen Mode for macOS
Shares rank 8 of 9 website blockers by recommenders
A simple macOS focus mode app that people say functions well, though one commenter noted that notifications still come through.
A simple macOS focus mode app that people say functions well, though one commenter noted that notifications still come through.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple and functions well
“A simple solution with about 250 lines of Hammerspoon Lua”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Zen Mode – a global focus mode for macOS” “Overall, very simple and functions well. I like it.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Zen Mode – a global focus mode for macOS”
Other website blockers people recommend
The four most recommended other website blockers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dull | 14 | 14 | 50% | 2 | — | — |
| One Sec | 11 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| ScreenZen | 10 | 1 | 91% | 6 | — | Approved |
| UnTrap for YouTube | 9 | 2 | 82% | 7 | — | — |
| Zen Mode for macOSThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“my notifications are brought along for the ride, which is not what I had hoped for”
“Overall, very simple and functions well. I like it.”
“Nice thought. Hope people find it useful.”
“I wanted something that works uniformly across all apps.”
“A simple solution with about 250 lines of Hammerspoon Lua”
“it runs locally on your desktop using Electron/Puppeteer with your actual Chrome profile and home IP”
“when your desktop app uses your actual Chrome browser and home IP, it's indistinguishable from manual usage”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.